PERSEPHONE: Who she is, attributes, meaning and much more

Persephone, daughter of the Greek goddess of the harvest, grain and fertility and also wife of the god Hades, therefore the Queen of the underworld, is a beautiful young woman whose life takes place between two completely opposite existences, one dark and dark, the other , bright and happy.

The goddess of spring, associated with the seasons and nature and queen of the underworld, has been the subject and protagonist of many stories in Greek mythology, which are still an object of interest in today’s society.

Learn about the complicated life of Persephone and those who surrounded her at the time when the Olympian gods dominated the world by reading the following article.

Who is it?

Persephone is the goddess of spring, the seasons and the fertility of the lands, daughter of Olympian gods, she was kidnapped and married by the king of the underworld, then taking the role of queen of the worlds beneath the earth.

Meaning

The goddess is known by different names, the most common in Greek mythology is Persephone, coming from the Greek dialect that was spoken in the region of Ionia.

This name from ancient Greek and widely mentioned in the epic literature of Ionian Greece means the one that brings death.

It was a name that very few spoke out loud, referring to Persephone as the Maiden, as they did not consider it safe to invoke her.

Some other names attributed to it are:

Core or Kore, a term commonly used to call a young woman and which is believed to have been used to differentiate her from her mother Demeter. Persephoneia, used by Homer. Ferepapha or Pherepapha, used by Cratylus and Plato. Persephatta which translated means the that winnows the grain. Pherein phonon, meaning the one that brings death.

Roman name

In Roman mythology, the Greek goddess Persephone is known as Proserpina. Known as the goddess of life, death and resurrection, she is also associated with the myth of the arrival of spring or the changes of season.

She is a beautiful young woman, daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, she was kidnapped by Pluto, her uncle and king of the underworld, to be his wife and companion in the underground kingdom.

This occurred while Proserpina was showering and playing with the nymphs in Lake Pergusa, very close to Enna, in Sicily.

Ceres, her mother and goddess of nature and crops, went in search of her through all the towns and corners of the world, but she could not find her daughter.

Enraged and desperate, she stopped the growth of the plants, no fruits or vegetables grew, she tore off her clothes and scratched her face.

He did not resume his work, nor did he return to his home and wandered the earth bringing desolation, destruction and famine.

Jupiter, full of concern, sent Mercury to the underworld with a message to Pluto, telling him to hand over Proserpina.

The lord of the underworld obeyed, but not before tricking the young woman into eating six pomegranate seeds, which were known as the symbol of fidelity in marriage.

Having eaten the pomegranate from the underworld, Proserpina would have to live six months of the year with him and the other six months with Ceres, her mother.

The similarity between the two characters and their stories can be seen in both Greek and Roman mythology, as has occurred with other deities.

How was it represented?

In Greek culture this goddess is represented in different ways, due to the different roles she played.

It was usual to always see her as a young woman, but in some cases dressed in a tunic with a pomegranate, ears of wheat or another grain, or a bouquet of daffodils. She also represented him sitting on a throne with a torch or scepter in his hand.

There are some representations of Persephone with Hades, in a chariot pulled by black horses or on their respective thrones next to each other, with their attributes in their hands, an ear of wheat on the left and a rooster on the right, as is the case in the bas-relief. which is in the Museo Nazionale Reggio di Calabria.

Attributes

Attributes are qualities or symbols that represent Persephone, these include:

Pomegranate seeds. Flowers, such as the daffodil. Animals like deer, rooster and bat. A torch or a scepter. Ears of wheat or other grain.

Family and Children

Persephone, the goddess of spring and queen of the underworld, was kidnapped by Hades, who made her his wife against her will and brought to earth with her mother again thanks to a deal established by Zeus.

However, she would not free herself from her bond with Hades, since she had eaten pomegranate seeds from Tartarus and this forced her to return to the underworld.

However, many agree that Persephone knew very well that by eating those pomegranate seeds she would have to return to Hades, which is why she was complicit in this alleged trap.

Over the course of her existence, many stories indicate that she fell in love with the lord of the underworld.

There are many versions and stories about the union of Hades and Persephone. Some say that he left no descendants, however others do attribute some children to them.

They indicate that Hades and Persephone are parents of:

Macaria: divinity associated with death. Melinoe: goddess of offerings to the deceased and who wandered with ghosts around the world. Zagreo: it is believed that he was the reincarnation of the god of wine, the first Dionysus.

However, some traditions say that Melinoe would be the daughter of Zeus, who seduced Persephone, posing as Hades.

In the Orphic myths, Zeus transformed into a snake and seduced Persephone in a cave, becoming pregnant and giving birth to Zagreus before being kidnapped by Hades and becoming queen of the underworld.

This goddess is known to have only one passion outside of marriage and it was with the beautiful Adonis.

In Greek mythology

There are many and varied stories and myths in Ancient Greece, where a single fact is interpreted and told in different ways.

That is why it is so rich and for many entertaining, representing the way of the Greek people of explaining the why of some natural phenomena and events of common life.

Persephone occupies a very special place in some of these stories, being the cause of natural phenomena such as the growth and flowering of plants, the life cycle of living beings and the change of seasons.

But also an important role as queen of the underworld and the dead, placing the goddess in the role of one associated with life and death.

Granddaughter of Cronus and Rhea, she is the daughter of the goddess Demeter and the god Zeus, however she was raised far from Olympus and all the gods, on earth, where she was the beautiful maiden of spring.

Some of the Ancient Greek myths involving Persephone are:

Hades and the kidnapping of Persephone

Hades, the god of the dead, is one of the three Olympian gods who overthrew Cronus. Son of Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus, Poseidon and the other Olympian goddesses, he won the draw for the kingdoms of the underworld.

Since then he reigned there, without interfering in the affairs of mortals, in a rather solitary kingdom.

Hades or the underworld was not a place that any being liked to visit, the dead who receive a proper funeral are taken there by Thanatos, better known as the lord of death and Charon.

In the underworld they are evaluated and sentenced by three judges, who, depending on the life that the deceased has led, send him to the corresponding place in the underworld.

So other than that, it could be a pretty lonely life, as goddesses and mortals avoided such a dark and lonely place. But Hades decided to find a company and would choose a maiden to be his wife and company.

Then he set his eyes on the beautiful young woman called Persephone, goddess of spring and daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of agriculture, harvest and grain, who was also his sister.

The story goes that one day, Persephone was picking flowers with some nymphs, Athena and Artemis, in the field in Enna, located in the area that currently corresponds to Sicily.

The maiden busy with her work was surprised by a tremor in the ground, which was immediately followed by the formation of a crack, from which Hades suddenly emerged.

The lord of the underworld took Persephone and disappeared through the same crack, which then closed in the same way, leaving everything calm again.

No one noticed and did not intervene, the desolate goddess Demeter began to walk in search of her daughter, leaving life on earth paralyzed, since nothing grew or prospered.

Demeter searching everywhere for her missing daughter, while the land became increasingly arid and hunger and misery spread.

Following Hecate’s advice, the sun went to talk to Helios, who sees everything from the sky, so he would really know what had happened.

Helios told Demeter everything he saw and the goddess without hesitation went to Zeus demanding that he intervene.

Zeus, faced with Demeter’s refusal to resume her work and seeing the earth dying, agreed to intervene and sent Hermes to look for her in the underworld.

The refusal of Hades, ruler of the Underworld, was emphatic, so Zeus looked for an alternative that would somehow please both parties.

Since Persephone had eaten some pomegranate seeds from Tartarus, she would be forced to spend a season in the underworld with Hades, since she could not be completely freed and the rest of the time she would be with her mother on the surface of the earth.

Some sources indicate that the abduction of Persephone was rather an agreement between Zeus and Hades, where the god of the gods gave his approval for the lord of the underworld to take the daughter of Demeter.

Many stories indicate that Persephone was tricked and tricked by Hades into eating the pomegranate seeds from Tartarus, however, others claim that the maiden was aware that eating something in the underworld would force her to stay and she willingly did so.

It is said that Persephone’s personality as goddess of the underworld was very different from that of the maiden goddess of spring who made everything in her path bloom.

She, who together with her husband received mortal souls, showed mercy very rarely and was known as the Iron Queen, cold, unbreakable and inflexible.

The goddess of the Underworld

There is a different version of the myth of Persephone and her descent to the underworld, where the Olympian gods do not appear.

As Mother Goddess, Demeter gives birth to her Daughter and at birth they work together to give order and launch all life cycles on the planet and beyond it.

It is said that after receiving all the teachings and initiations from the Mother Goddess Demeter, Persephone, now an adult and mature, decides to travel to other places in the world to spread her gifts to all of creation.

One of those days, somewhere along his route he found a cave and stopped to listen to some sad cries that came from inside.

Persephone lit a torch and with a determined step entered the cave, which was nothing other than the entrance to the Underground World of the Dead, who upon seeing the light stopped lamenting and were happy with the presence of the goddess, who brought with her the hope of rebirth.

Being the goddess of Life and Regeneration, she decided to stay and live among…